


One Step Closer to Being Understood.

by percyyoulittleshit



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Little Mermaid AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-15 00:40:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13601883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/percyyoulittleshit/pseuds/percyyoulittleshit
Summary: Percy's hand was warm against hers, their bodies moving around the ballroom without worries. Her deadline was two weeks away, if she failed to get her true love's kiss she would not only be back to being a mermaid but she would be in the clutches of the powerful siren Arachne. She had no voice and no way to comunicate with Percy or so she thought, after all dancing is a language that is felt instead of heard.





	One Step Closer to Being Understood.

**Author's Note:**

> I accidentally created this universe because someone asked me for headcanons on a Little Mermaid AU. The main plot of the story is Annabeth Chase being cursed to be a mermaid as a baby in a way to get revenge on her mother, Queen Athena, Annabeth grows in the ocean and she makes a deal with a siren, Arachne. Annabeth would be a human as a month in order to get her true love's kid and break the curse, if she fails to break the curse her soul would be owned by Arachne. If you want to learn more about the story you can find it on my tumblr with the same username as this account. 
> 
> The song One Step Closer by the Little Mermaid (Broadway Musical) has always inspired to writing a fic and now I have an excuse to finally write something related about it. I'm still not sure if this will become a full story but for now enjoy this little drabble.

His hand was warm against hers, she could feel her whole body being affected by his touch and there was the voice inside her head, the one that said over and over  _he is the one, he must be_. She wasn’t sure if it was part of her curse to know who her true love was, but she was starting to be absolutely sure Percy was hers. He smiled at her and started to sway from side to side, letting the music guide them.

“You should have seen me when Mr. Papadopoulos started teaching me dancing, I was the worst. Piper, bless her, was the poor unfortunate soul who had to be my partner, I’m pretty sure I stepped on her toes at least twenty times per dance.” He said while he tentatively started moving more and Annabeth smiled at him. “Jason, on the other hand, was a natural, he is a natural in almost everything, he should be th-“ Percy stopped talking as if he was shocked of what he was about to say, he shook his head and smiled shyly at her. “Nevermind. Mr. Papadopoulos tortured me so much during lessons that you don’t have to worry about me stepping on you.”

Annabeth gave him a smile, wishing she could do more, that she could say something, but not speaking was a small price she had to pay in order to get something better. Percy had been right, she didn’t have to worry about him stepping on her, she on the other hand was….terrible didn’t even start to cover how awful she was at dancing, if she didn’t trip with her own legs she would step on him or kick him, or try to sway to the wrong side. She was getting so frustrated, she wanted to scream. If they had been underwater she could have aced it, but they were on land and she had just learned how to walk only  _two weeks_  ago. Percy didn’t say anything about her mistakes, he just would take her hand and try it again and again and  _again_.

They must have been dancing for hours, the sunset shining brightly across the massive windows, her legs were hurting and she was sure she was gonna find bruises the next morning (and Percy would too, if the times she stepped and kicked him by accident would count) but she had managed to dance across the ballroom without stopping, sure she had fallen a few times and Percy could only twirl her if he rushed to catch her but she was proud of herself.

“You are doing so much better than me when I started,” Percy said once they had decided it was enough dancing for the day. “By the time the ball is here, you will be more than ready to awe everyone.”

Annabeth laughed but then she realized that if her plan didn’t work, she wouldn’t be there in two weeks, she would be doing whatever Arachne wanted from her. The smiled slipped off her face and Percy misread the situation.

“Hey, no,” He lifted her chin making her face him. “I’m serious Annabeth, you are an amazing learner and I have no doubt you will be dancing like if the ballroom was made for you, plus I think this would be good for you.”

Annabeth raised an eyebrow, silently asking for an explanation and he guided her again to the middle of the room. “You see, Mr. Papadopoulos kept telling me the same thing over and over during my lessons, dancing is a language that is felt instead of heard.”  He raised his arm and with his free arm he guided hers to mimic his movement. “You can express any feeling with your body, there is no need for words, just emotions.” He slowly took a step closer to her and then took another back, and he signed her to do the same he then started moving in a circle, his palm still resting against her and she moved with him, “A dance is like a conversation, he told me over and over, except you don’t need to make a sound.” He turned his hand so he was holding hers and he rested his other hand on her waist, he made them go back to waltz position and started to slowly sway them. “I know you can’t talk Annabeth, but that doesn’t mean you can’t express what you want to say.”

Annabeth’s heart started to beat faster and faster, realizing this could finally be a way for her to express what she truly wanted to say, she closed her eyes and let her body do the talking for her. She didn’t think about moving her legs the right way, she only thought of Percy and her, moving as one, they started to move faster, twirling and swaying across the ballroom, his eyes were shining and his smile was bright, she was sure her face was mirroring his, he gave her one last twirl making her end up in his arms, face close to him. She wanted to kiss him so badly, his lips were only inches away but the curse was clear, she should receive the kiss not give it, his eyes drifted to her lips and Annabeth’s heart started to beat faster, he started to close distance between them and Annabeth closed her eyes but her lips were met only with air, she could feel his lips on the corner of her mouth, close enough to give her hope but not close enough to break her curse.

Percy pulled away and Annabeth opened her eyes, while he was smiling at her, there were hints of nerves on his face. “Do you want to practice again tomorrow?” Annabeth smiled and nodded, his smile grew bigger. “Good, good, I have to go and change but I’ll see you at dinner?” She nodded again and after giving her hand one last squeeze he left the room.

Percy’s teacher was right, dancing  _was_  a language and if she and Percy kept practicing it, even without words maybe she could talk with him after all.


End file.
